ZMF engage regulator over increased power cuts
THE Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has engaged the Zimbabwe Energy and Regulatory Authority over increased power cuts which are affecting their operations.
ZMF chief executive officer Wellington Takavarasha told NewsDay Weekender that the power cuts lasting several hours were affecting their day-to-day operations.
“The power cuts, blackouts and load-shedding have greatly impacted negatively in terms of mining operations,” he said.
“You know electricity is used for the mining operations and also for health and safety issues in the mines. We use electricity for extractive equipment and also for processing equipment and when there is massive cuts it means there is reduced production.”
Power utility Zesa Holdings attributed the outages to ongoing maintenance works at major plants.
Recently, Zesa warned of more power cuts to allow the resumption of maintenance work at Kariba Dam.
Zesa this week said it requires at least US$17 million a month to import electricity to bridge the supply gap.